


A Little More Than You Bargained For (Supernatural)

by RosalineSupernatural



Category: Supernatural
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-26
Updated: 2015-11-13
Packaged: 2018-04-28 08:06:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 14
Words: 20,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5084434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RosalineSupernatural/pseuds/RosalineSupernatural
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ten years ago, young Rosaline sold her soul to a demon to save the life of her boyfriend at the time. But now as her time is running out, she meets the demon again, without telling her current boyfriend - the angel Castiel. Little does she know that she's done more than try to regain her soul... She has also captured the King of Hell's attention. Details such as these do not go unnoticed in Hell. Rosaline is now thrown into a world of new dangers that her angel has tried his hardest to protect her from, and torn between the light and the dark... Angels and demons...</p><p>Originally posted here: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11573929/1/A-Little-More-than-You-Bargained-For-Supernatural</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“I’ve… I’ve come to make a deal.” Rosaline’s voice was shaky. It was dark, midnight had just passed, and there was a cool wisp of a breeze that ruffled her hair. The man standing before her wore a dark suit with a silver tie, and a darkly humorous expression to match. He had a slight beard, not quite stubble, but not quite a beard either. Somewhere in between. That, too, was black. And his short hair? Black.  
“Yes, yes, my long-dead grandmother could have told me that.” He chuckled and smiled at the young girl. “What would you like?”  
Rosaline kicked the gravel where she had buried the box to summon the demon, and pursed her lips. She wasn’t too keen on talking to demons, but she was even less keen on what would happen if she didn’t. “I need someone’s life to be saved… My boyfriend… He’s dying. I need to make him better. I was wondering if you could help with that.”  
“Of course I can, dear,” replied the British crossroads demon. “But I’ll need something from you in return.”  
“Anything.” She said quickly, too quickly.  
“Your soul.” He must have seen the protest forming in her eyes, because he elaborated. “Now, I don’t need it _now_ , but in ten years I’ll come to collect it.”  
The girl, who could not have been any older than fifteen, thought this over. She would only live naturally for another ten years, and then be sent to Hell. But she couldn’t just let her boyfriend die, could she? She closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh. “On… On one condition… He doesn’t die until he is naturally supposed to die. So no car crashes, no debilitating accidents… He stays healthy and happy. Deal?” She stuck out her hand to shake on it.  
The demon laughed and nodded. “Of course, my darling. But that’s not how we seal a deal in Hell.” And before she could protest, his lips were locked with hers.

The third storey of the hospital was remarkable quiet. No beeping came from any of the machines around the room. When she opened the door, her once almost-dead boyfriend was only supported by a machine to breathe for him, but now he stood with her back to her, standing by the window. He must have heard her come in, because he stiffened instantly.  
“Rosaline? I’ve got something to tell you.” Yves’s voice was quiet.  
Rosaline hurried over to his side and hugged him tight. “I know, I know, you’re all better! Isn’t it a miracle? The doctors-”  
“It’s not about that…” He interrupted. Something in his voice frightened her. “I don’t think I can keep doing this with you anymore…”  
She was stumped. “What do you mean, baby? Like coming to the hospital? Of course not! You’re pretty much free!” She held him tighter and beamed up at him.  
He pushed her away and took a step back. He still wasn’t looking at her. “No, I mean together. I don’t think we should be together anymore.”  
Her chest felt cold. “Babe, it’s probably just the meds. You’ll come to your senses, Yves, you’ll realise what you’re saying is bull crap and we’ll be okay.”  
Yves’s face was going red in anger. He whirled on her, grabbing her by the arms and shaking her with his words. “They haven’t given me anything!” He exploded. “I’m fine! I’m completely in my own shoes and know what I’m saying! I _don’t_ want to be with _you_!”  
“Yves…? What do you mean? You can be breaking up with me. Not after-” Rosaline was about to say ‘not after I sold my soul for you’, but she knew that wouldn’t go down to well with her devout boyfriend. “Not after everything we’ve been through!”  
He let her go and took a step away. “Rosie, I’m happier without you. I know it hurts, but when I was sick last night, I was alone and I realised that I don’t feel so pressured when I’m with you.” Yves’s voice was suddenly soft, pleading for Rosaline to understand.  
But she didn’t. How could she? She had literally promised herself to the devil in ten years to save her boyfriend from dying a slow and painful death. And this was how she was repaid? “You can’t do this… Please…”  
“I’m sorry, Rosie. Let the devil have me for the pain I’ve caused you, but I just can’t keep doing this.”  
“‘Let the devil have you’? Wow. Amazing choice of words for this situation, Yves.” She said sarcastically. “You were in the devil’s grasp, and who do you think saved you? What saved you?”  
He placed his hands on her arms again, softer this time. “The doctors say it was a miracle. And you said it was. There must have been an angel watching over me, Rosie. Doctor Latmar cannot find any cancer anywhere in me. It was a miracle.”  
Her eyes were filling with tears. No. Not after everything she had done. This couldn’t happen. Then something occurred to her. A loophole in her deal. She could almost hear the demon’s voice laughing and reciting it. _He stays healthy and happy_ … But she had never said happy with herself. She knew that there was no persuading him now, not after the demon had held up his side of the bargain and saved him, and made him happy. “If that’s how you really feel…”  
“And I do.”  
“Then I guess I should leave you to be happy.”  
Yves pulled her into a tight embrace and pressed his lips to her head. “Thank you, my angel.”

Rosaline was at another crossroad that night. The demon from the night before was walking up one of the roads towards her before she had even straightened from burying her box.  
“I believe you called?” He asked in that annoying British voice with a grin twisting his features.  
Rosaline stood up straighter and rubbed her hands together. She had no time for his nonsense. “I need to ask you a question.”  
“Shoot.”  
“Why did you trick me?”  
He laughed and flicked his sleeves. “You made a deal with a demon, darling. You must expect a trick to be in there somewhere.”  
She wasn’t amused. “You should have said something…”  
“That’s not what I do, young lady.” He shrugged and smirked at her. “Is there anything else I can help you with?”  
There was one thought that had been plaguing her mind since the previous night, and it had grown in strength since the breakup with Yves. “What happens when I die…? Do I just go straight to Hell? Or because you technically own my soul, does that mean something else happens to it?” Her voice quivered and her eyes started to burn with oncoming tears. Maybe Hell would be better than what she was going through.  
The demon chuckled and inspected his fingernails as he spoke. “Now, now, why should I tell you that when there are people _dying_ to find out?”  
She wasn’t impressed with that joke. His smirk was too annoying. Her fingers curled into hard little fists and she glared at the demon. “You know what? Screw you! Screw you and everything else! You lied to me! You said he’d be okay and-”  
“And that he would be happy, you didn’t specify that you wanted him to be happy with you, darling.” There was a smile lurking behind his stupid honey brown eyes.  
She shook her head, tears starting to roll down her cheeks. She swore that something in his eyes changed – compassion? – but before she could pinpoint it, it was gone. “How…? How could you…? He was my everything…”  
The demon frowned at that. “You’re fifteen. You don’t even know what love is! You haven’t even been alive for a fifth of what could have been your life! Young people always make irrational decisions and never include detail, which makes deals a lot easier, darling.”  
She turned her back on him and walked off, the tears flowing freely down her rosy cheeks.  



	2. Chapter 2

Rosaline was clearing away debris from her twenty-fifth birthday party when her eyes started to swim. She knew that one would be her last. The demon would be coming to take her soul soon… But not without a fight. She understood how silly she had been, selling her soul for her ‘true love’, only to realise that she could do better anyway. She did do better.  
Her boyfriend of three years shot her a quick smile across the room, but it dropped quickly at the sight her saddened face. “Rose, you are you alright?” He was suddenly in front of her, his hands cupping her arms. “Are you unhappy?”  
She sighed and looked up into a pair of beautiful blue eyes. “I am, Cas.” She paused, took a deep breath, then told him the secret that she had been hiding from him since before they met. “I know how you and your friends are always fighting demons and stuff-”  
Castiel interrupted quickly, understanding flowing over his face. “You would like me to stop?”  
“No. Cas, that’s not it.” She shook him off. The moment he knew, he would never touch her again. “When I was younger – when I was fifteen – I did something stupid.” She dropped eye contact, and stared at his glossy shoes. “My boyfriend at the time had cancer, and he was dying… So I sold my soul to cure him…”  
“Rosaline! Why?!” The items inside the room started to shake with the angel’s fury.  
She took a step back, fearful. “I had to do something! I loved him! I couldn’t let him die!”  
It took him a while to calm down, and all that time, she stared at his shoes. She saw them move forward so they were touching her sock-clad feet, and a warm finger gently tilted her chin up. When he spoke, his voice was soft. “Rose…?”  
“Yes?”  
“Do you know who the demon was?”  
She shook her head. “He was British, black hair, black beard, black suit.”  
“Crowley.” Castiel growled, then nodded. “I will be back, Rose. I need to call Sam and Dean.”  
She nodded, but he didn’t see it. He’d already left.

It was getting close to midnight, and Castiel still hadn’t returned home. She was restless. It didn’t take her long to get what she needed and go to the nearest dirt crossroad. After she had buried the box, she heard a low whistle behind her.  
“Well, well, well… What can I do for you now, darling?” She shuddered at the familiar gruff British voice and turned slowly, determined to keep the fear out of her eyes this time.  
“Don’t you remember me, Crowley?” She raised an eyebrow at the demon. He looked exactly the same as last time, down to shiny coat of his shoes.  
Crowley appraised her hourglass figure for a moment, spending a little longer than necessary on her cleavage. “Ah, the little girl who sold her soul for her boyfriend. Long-time no see, eh? How is he? Back together again?  
Rosaline rolled her eyes and ignored him. “I was wondering if there was any way I could… Back out of the deal. I don’t care if that involves killing that boy, but I can see now that it wasn’t worth it.”  
“Of course it wasn’t worth it! Anyone could have told you that!” He chuckled and rubbed his palms together. “But my, my, what he missed out on…” He ran his tongue over his lips, staring at her figure.  
She pulled her jacket closer so that it hid most of her exposed chest from his prying eyes. “You didn’t answer the question: can I get out of-”  
“Rose?” A flap of wings indicated Castiel’s arrival. He was beside her, frowning at her whereabouts, and his demeanour changed the instant he laid eyes on the demon. “Crowley!” The angel almost roared, and went to take a step in front of Rosaline.  
Crowley was too quick. His fingers curled around her arm and yanked her against him, suddenly holding a blade against her neck. She tried to squirm away from him, but it only made him press the knife harder against her soft skin. “Uh, uh, uh,” he whispered in her ear. “I wouldn’t be doing that now, my lovely…”  
Castiel’s eyes hardened and he lowered his angel blade. “What do you want, Crowley?” His voice was deep, and Rosaline could hear a trace of fear in it.  
“It’s not what I want – well, it wasn’t – because she was the one who called for me.” The demon tapped her neck. “But now, it seems that Bird has a new toy… Is that right?”  
“That is… Correct…”  
“Well, isn’t that a surprise!” Crowley sounded genuinely amused.  
Rosaline, on the other hand, was terrified. Fear was making her heart beat loudly in her ears, and she was certain that the demon could hear it. Maybe Cas, too.  
“Let her go, Crowley.” Cas’s voice had lost its fearful tone, and was replaced by something firmer, a voice that almost promised God’s personal wrath upon him if he didn’t do what the angel wanted.  
That made Crowley laugh. “Well, not without a gift for your beautiful young lady.”  
Something there was a weird sensation that started in her arm, and travelled throughout her body, making her frown. Castiel on the other hand, went as white as a sheet and ripped her from Crowley’s grasp.  
The demon chuckled. “Just in case my dear little hound has a little trouble finding Angel Bait. No heaven trips for you.” Crowley smirked when he saw Rosaline curl into the angel’s chest, face buried. Cas held her tight and stroked her soft brown hair. “Let’s go.” They both vanished with the sound of flapping wings.

Crowley stood there for a moment, thinking of Rosaline. She had definitely grown into something. It made the demon feel something he hadn’t in a while… It pulled on his nearly non-existent humanity. Something about how she felt against him, how soft her skin was, how fragile she was. It made him yearn for her, to have her in his arms and protect her from whatever monster may want to harm her.  
He shook it off and hunkered over, digging in the centre of the crossroads. When his fingers hit the tin box, he opened it and retrieved the picture of her. She wore a shy smile, her eyes were bright blue, and her hair was as wavy as melted chocolate. He pocketed the photo, already making plans to put it into a pendant that he would hide under his shirt. “Rosaline… Let’s see what we can do about you.”

She lay in bed by herself while Castiel spoke on the phone downstairs. He refused to speak to her, and from what little she could hear, he wasn’t speaking in English, so she gave up on trying to find out what he was saying pretty quickly. Rosaline closed her eyes and curled up under the covers, trying her best to sleep without a person beside her. It had been so long since she had been alone like this. Even when Castiel was hunting with the boys, he would still stay until she fell asleep. She was almost asleep with tears trickling down her face by the time she felt a presence in the room. She felt a warm hand stroke her head, and wiped away the tears. “Shh…” The voice calmed her. “Shh…” The voice started to hum a soft melody in the quiet room. Castiel’s voice from downstairs quieted, and she knew that something wasn’t right. But she was so peaceful, and the voice was so mesmerising that she didn’t care. Sleep consumed her.

Crowley smiled gently at the sleeping girl, watching the rise and fall of the covers as she slept. He could tell from Hell that she was unhappy, and he couldn’t sit just sit there. He needed to see her. He stayed in her room until the room started to light up from the approaching dawn, and the sound of footsteps echoing up the stairs. He paused for a moment to kiss her cheek, watched a small smile bloom across her face that was better than any sunset he had ever seen, before he left for Hell.


	3. Chapter 3

Rosaline stirred and blinked up at Castiel, who had just opened the door, still smiling from his kiss. "Now that's one way to wake a girl up of a morning."  
Cas frowned. "By walking through a door? Should I try that more often?" He sounded confused.  
She laughed and rubbed her cheek, rolling her eyes at him. "With a kiss, silly!"  
"But I didn't kiss you…"  
That made the smile fade from her face, and the memories from last come back to her. Someone had been in her room. She wondered who it could have been, before Castiel's eyes narrowed.  
"Someone's been here." He searched the room quickly, then darted into the ensuite.  
Rosaline got up, and followed him. "Who?"  
He turned to her, his eyes cold. "A demon."  
The blood drained from her face. Crowley. It had been Crowley who had been comforting her last night while Castiel was downstairs. Maybe it was wrong of her to try and fix what she had broken ten years ago. "Can you tell when he- uh, they would have left?"  
"Less than two minutes ago. The traces are stronger out here." He left the bathroom and walked into the corner almost obscured by the dresser…  
He was watching me sleep…? The thought sent shivers down her spine and she took hold of her angel's hand.  
He squeezed it back. "It will be alright, Rose. I will not let a demon hurt you." She nodded and he pulled her in to his chest, stroking her hair the way Crowley had done last night. "You will be safe."  
She smiled and turned her face to look out the window. Her eyes meandered over the tree-lined back yard and she stiffened.  
"Rose? What is wrong?" Castiel's voice was tense. His eyes followed hers, but he had missed it.  
Missed the man with dark hair in a black suit, watching them from the yard.

She didn't tell Castiel about the previous night, or how she saw Crowley leaning casually against a tree, frowning at her. Rosaline needed a break. She had already arranged a lunch out with a friend by the time her angel had informed her that the Winchesters required his assistance.  
"Don't worry, Cas," She said, smiling at his worried face. "I'm just getting lunch with Abby. No big deal. I'll call if I run into trouble."  
He took a deep breath and nodded. "I understand… I still do not like leaving you when there has been a demon in your room." He held her tighter, his lips pressed against her forehead.  
"I'll be fine." She pushed him away and kissed his nose. "Have fun."  
He gave her a worried smile before he left.  
Silly angel, she thought to herself. How did he ever cope without me?

Abby was waiting for her at their usual table. It was near the back of the café, by a small window that overlooked lake. The day was beautiful. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, but Rosaline still felt slightly weary of the morning's events. She sat down with a sigh and laid her chin on her clasped hands.  
"Someone looks a little out of it." Abby noted, tucking a few strands of her red hair behind her ears. She looked lovely today, a black shirt, pink lipstick, and her hair loose around her shoulders.  
"Yeah, you wouldn't believe me if I told you." Rosaline agreed and closed her eyes.  
Abby grinned. "Try me."  
"No, really, you won't believe it." She insisted.  
The red-head shrugged and sipped her water. "There's only one way to find out."  
"Well, Castiel – who you have to meet at one point Abby – he is weird. He said there was…" Rosaline looked around, and lowered her voice. "He said there was a demon in our bedroom last night."  
Abby's eyebrows shot up and there was a flash of something in her eyes. "A demon? Cool. Do you know his name?"  
"Maybe… I don't know. I think I've met a demon before… When I was younger." She admitted softly.  
Abby nodded, giving her friend an encouraging smile. "Well, time to get some stuff off your chest? Let's go for a drive. We'll get lunch later."  
Rosaline didn't protest. She followed Abby out to her shiny black car and slid into the passenger seat. "So, your boyfriend says there was a demon in your house?"  
"Yeah, so he said there was a demon in my house, because we apparently met one last night." Rosaline rolled her eyes, but kept her story light-hearted and joking. "And apparently he snuck into my room and watched me sleep or something. Cas is pretty shaken up about it, but I think it's bull."  
Abby kept her eyes on the road, and hidden behind a pair of thick, black sunglasses. "And you said you had met this demon before?"  
"When I was like fifteen. I had a boyfriend who had cancer, and I had a dream that I met this guy who said he could fix him if I gave him my soul, and then the next day, Yves was okay." She shrugged.  
"What did the demon look like?" There was a new edge to Abby's voice. It was almost as if she knew who the demon was already.  
"He had black hair, a black suit, and a black tie, and he was British. And a jerk."  
Abby laughed at that, but it sounded a little forced. Maybe it was just Rosaline's mind playing tricks on her.  
"Well, how about we get dinner instead and talk about this demon bedroom peeper then? I'll pick you up at seven."  
They were already out the front of Rosaline's house. She nodded and got out. "I'll have to tell Cas."  
"Nah, don't worry about your over-protective psycho boyfriend. You'll be fine." Abby's smile was dazzling and put her to ease.  
"I'll see you tonight, then."  
"See ya." Abby waved and drove off.

Once Rosaline was back in the house, time began to speed up. It felt like she had only been sitting down for ten minutes before she heard a honk out of the front. She checked her watch and muttered a curse under her breath. It was already five minutes to seven.  
She hurried up to her room, put on a fresh floral dress, a touch of lip gloss, and a pair of flats before hurrying downstairs. She slid into Abby's car and beamed at her. "I must have tuned out, or fell asleep, or something, because it's like I just saw you."  
Abby laughed and pulled away from the curb. "You can't stay away from me, huh?"  
Rosaline laughed as she buckled her seatbelt. "Yeah, yeah."  
They drove in silence for a while before Rosaline cursed herself. She had left her phone at home. She hoped that Cas wouldn't mind too much…  
"So, we're not going to a restaurant… Yet." Abby said as she pulled into the old industrial side of town. She slowed the car, looking out the window. "I want to show you something first."  
Rosaline shrugged and peered out the window, searching. "What are we looking for?"  
"It's just a building that I found before. It had these cool symbols on the ground, I thought you'd be interested."  
The idea of visiting an old, creepy, abandoned building was a little frightening to the meek girl, but she stuck up her chin and nodded. "Yeah, sounds cool."  
The car filled with silence again as Abby continued looking. They stopped and the engine cut off. "We're here." Abby announced and almost bounded out of the car.  
Rosaline got out and frowned. The building was in fact old, abandoned, and one of the creepiest she had ever seen in person. She stuck close to Abby's side as they walked.  
Inside the old factory, it was dark and smelt of rotting wood. The moonlight shone in from a gap in the roof, illuminating a spot on the ground, painted with a weird symbol. "And tell me again why you like coming in places like this…?" Rosaline asked, her voice quivering.  
Abby sounded confident from behind her. "Because it makes it easier to do this."  
Something hit the back of her head, hard, and she fell to the ground. The last thing she saw was Abby's smirking face peering down at her.


	4. Chapter 4

When Rosaline woke, the first thing she felt was cold around her wrists. And then her feet not touching the floor. And then finally, the heavy iron cuffs that were attached to chains on the high roof. Her feet were dangling a half-meter from the dusty floor. She raised her head, searching for Abby. She spotted her across the room, talking with two men in tailored suits. One of them looked up and gestured to Rosaline, and all conversation stopped.  
Abby strode over to her, and kicked an empty wooden crate over sit on. "Welcome to the land of the living-ish." She smirked.  
Rosaline groaned. "What are you doing, Abby…? Get me down from here…"  
"We can't do that now," the smirk widened into a fear-inducing grin. Her eyes flashed red. "We're calling your demon friend. And it's not 'Abby'," she corrected. "It's Abaddon, the very last Knight of Hell."  
"Abaddon…? What's going on?!" Tears were pooling in her eyes already. Her best friend was a demon who had lied to her, and wasn't even her best friend. She didn't know what was stronger, the fear, or the betrayal.  
Abaddon laughed and grabbed a hold of Rosaline's foot, pulled it forward, and let her swing. "Because that demon your angel boyfriend was worried about, he is the King of Hell, and I am going to overthrow him. When you told me that he was in your room last night, that meant he had a soft spot for you." Rosaline frowned through the tears. She'd never told Abby- Abaddon about how Castiel was an angel. "I could see the moment you walked into the café that Crowley had done something to you, but seeing as your boyfriend is an angel and all, it would have to be discrete. So I wonder… What did he do to you? Well, let's find out, shall we?"  
As if on cue, white hot pain shot through her back, and something warm started to pour from it – her blood. It made her scream. She kicked out and tried to stop her attacker, but to no avail; they had stepped out of the way. "Stop!" She yelled, more tears streaking down her face.  
"You know, I don't think I will." Abaddon said, smirking. "Your angel will be here soon. He'll start to wonder how you're going, check his phone to see if you're in trouble, and he'll see what we're going to send him of your pretty little body… But he won't be able to come in. This building is warded against angels." The demon was smug. She stood up and withdrew a sleek, silver blade. An angel blade. She tossed it between her hands, then pressed it against Rosaline's stomach. "And we'll see what we can get out of you about your demon fuck-buddy, get him here, and remove his head from his shoulders. It used to be all the rage in France."  
She gasped as the blade went in, and screamed as the demon twisted. The scream made her attackers laugh. She was getting dizzy. She couldn't see straight. The pain was hitting her too hard. Her head dropped and her eyes rolled back into her skull.

She could barely see when she woke up again, mainly because of the amount of blood that coated her eyes. Her wrists were slick with blood and sweat, and when she looked down, there was a puddle of red beneath her.  
Someone was talking. Rosaline raised her head, noticed a red halo, and frowned. Whoever it was, they were talking. "… So Castiel, what do you think of my work? It's a shame she's been asleep for most of it – I didn't expect for you to pick someone so weak, maybe someone who could withstand a little fun – but she's looking at us now… Say 'hi', Rosie." It was Abaddon. She took a step forward and into the remnant light from the night sky. She was holding a camera phone pointed in Rosaline's direction. She must have been filming.  
"Cas…" Rosaline moaned, her head drooping. "It's a trap…"  
Abaddon laughed and began circling the broken girl. "Castiel, Castiel, Castiel… It's been a while since we've had a chat. How about you come over for a little visit some time?" She stopped recording and fiddled with the phone. "Sent!" She announced, smiling.  
The doorways were lined with guards, possibly demons. It was only a matter of time before Castiel showed up, bringing Heaven's fury with him.  
There was a shout across the room, near the door facing Rosaline. "He's here!"  
A flash of a tan coat and a white shirt. A grunt. "Rose!" Castiel's face peered over the guards for a moment before one rushed him. The brawl had started.  
Rosaline didn't want to watch. She couldn't. She heard a scream, and prayed it was not him.  
"Now that your boyfriend it distracted… Let's have some fun. Now how about you tell me where Crowley is?" Abaddon was behind her. The chain above her rattled as she dropped, just enough for her toes to touch the floor. As she walked back around, she kicked at the side of Rosaline's knee and it shattered, and she screamed.  
Abaddon picked up another blade and started to carve the bleeding girl's face again, this time with deeper strokes, making Rosaline scream louder than before. "Where is he?"  
"I don't know!" Rosaline sobbed.  
Her failure to give the demon what she wanted gave her a another blade through the stomach. "Tell me!"  
No, no, no, no, oh God, no! She screamed in her mind, as the light started to swirl away from her eyes again.

Hell was expectedly warm. It made wearing a suit jacket rather inconvenient for Crowley. When he had walked the corridors, checked on key prisoners, and made death a living Hell for those who did the same for him, he had returned to his room and poured himself a glass of expensive whiskey all without his jacket. He had given it, and unknowingly the pendant that sensed when Rosaline was in danger, to a servant when he had arrived back to his quarters, and told him to do something with it – it was more or less a fashion statement for when he went topside.  
Crowley finished the bottle and clicked his fingers to get rid of the rubbish. A King didn't have time to clean. Rosaline was playing on his mind. He thought about that sweet smile that had turned the corners of her lips when he left her that morning. She was so innocent. Sure, innocence was a trait that the preachers usually go for, but there was something different about her. She was brave and shy, an odd mix in a person. But that couldn't just be it. Why was a demon thinking of Angel Bait like that?  
He muttered curses under his breath and, as he was about to summon a servant for his coat, there was a knock on the door.  
"What?"  
A servant came in, frowning at his clasped hands. "Sir? This… Thing. We found it in your jacket. It's reacting to something, and we're unaware as to what. We thought it best if we were to bring it to you." He opened his hands and held up the pendant which he had made with the picture of Rosaline.  
Crowley's face drained. Something must have been wrong with her. He nodded, took the necklace, and shooed the man away. Bird would be doing something about it by now. She would be okay. He took a deep breath to calm himself, waited for Bird to save the day, and poured himself another drink.  
An hour later, and the pendant was still reacting. He'd gone through three bottles of whiskey while waiting for that idiotic angel to take care of it. He couldn't take it any longer. He shouted that he was going out and to send help if he was not back in a day, and left.  
The King of Hell followed the signal to a long abandoned factory. At the entry closest to him, were black suits swarming a tan coat. Huh, so that's what was keeping Bird busy, he thought to himself, then noticed the angel-warding around the entries and windows. So it was a trap for him, how… "Quaint." He teleported to the other side of the building and peeked through a window.  
Rosaline was suspended from the roof with iron chains, blood covering her body and the floor beneath her. Her head was down, her body was limp, and Crowley's heart seemed to stop in his chest. He tried to justify to himself that she meant nothing to him, that the only reason he was going to save her was that he didn't need her soul yet.  
A figure stepped into the light, with a silver blade, and plunged it into the girl's side. Rosaline's head flicked back and she screamed. Across the room, Castiel was struggling to get in. Crowley noted that he had finished off the demons attacking him, and now was trying his hardest to get to his beloved.  
Crowley couldn't take much more of it. With a deep breath, he walked inside the demon trap with a smirk playing on his lips.


	5. Chapter 5

"Abaddon," this voice was different. Rosaline struggled to look to the side. The pain was making her dizzy. It was Crowley, complete with his dark suit, minus the coat, with something silver hanging around his neck. "Now, what brings you to torturing good old Angel Bait, here? What did she ever do?"  
Abaddon took a step back and gave the King of Hell her most dazzling smile. "Why, it was the only assured way of getting your attention, of course! There is not a demon can't feel you have a connection to her."  
Rosaline frowned in confusion. What on Earth was Abaddon talking about?  
There was the sound of smashing glass across the room, and she turned her head to see Castiel destroying the wards as he tried to get to her. "Cas… They're on… The inside…"  
He looked at her, pain in his eyes, then nodded and flew away. He was back in seconds with Dean and Sam, both of them looking dumbfounded at their new surroundings.  
"Destroy the wards." Castiel commanded as the brothers set to work, not even bothering to ask questions.  
"Ah, I see Squirrel and Moose decided to join our little party." Crowley noted.  
Abaddon laughed and walked closer to him, admiring the angel blade. "I don't want to fight them, but you? No one thinks you're strong enough to run Hell anymore, Crowley. Since you disappeared, all your little followers have come flocking to my side."  
"Well, that's odd. I was just down there and my authority seems to still in in order." Crowley shrugged, bringing out his own blade. "But whatever helps you sleep at night, love."  
Hands were suddenly on Rosaline, and she thrashed, drawing the attention of all in the room. Castiel shouted a warning to the brothers to help her, but it was too late. Something sharp went through her back, and protruded out the front. A wicked silver blade, coated in red. Rosaline didn't even scream, only stared at the dagger as blood started to leak from her lips.  
There was a heavy thud from behind, and the sound of two heavy bodies colliding. She did her best to look behind, and caught sight of Dean's red shirt, and someone she didn't know throwing fists. A bright light shone through the attacker's veins and Dean pushed his corpse away. Sam was by Rosaline's side, already picking at the locks. The brothers must have gone for a different tactic: to get her out as fast as they could. But before Sam could set her free, the knife inside her started to slowly twist, grating against her ribs. She cried out, black spots covering her vision.  
"Now, now, boys," Abaddon said, smirking in her voice. "Even in this demon trap, I have powers. Don't tempt me to use that blade elsewhere." She returned her attention to Crowley, who had about to take advantage of his opponent's distraction, but had stopped when the blade had gone through Rosaline's stomach.  
"Break… The trap…" Rosaline whispered to the brothers.  
Sam pulled out a knife from his belt, bent down, and broke the demon trap. "Rosaline, we'll get you out of this." He promised and tore off the hem of his shirt to bind the wounds he could. Dean followed his brother's example.  
Crowley had his powers back, and it was clear that Abaddon wasn't aware. He continued to play the part of the disadvantaged fool who had walked into his own demise, but he was ready. When Abaddon made a lunge, Crowley flicked her away and into one of the supports of the building. He clicked his fingers and the chains from Rosaline's wrists disappeared, only to be wrapped around Abaddon.  
Dean's arms were ready for Rosaline when she fell, but the handle of the blade struck his forearm, pushing it deeper into her stomach. "Fuck!" He shouted.  
She screaming wasn't an option anymore. The pain was making it difficult for her to keep her eyes open. Dean hurried her out laid her on the ground just outside of the factory, being careful of the dagger.  
Castiel was by her side in an instant. "This will hurt, Rosalilne. I'm sorry." He gently pulled out the blade, twisting it to get it back through her ribs. The blood loss and the pain proved to be too much for her. She couldn't fight the wave of unconsciousness anymore. Her eyes closed, and she drifted.

Castiel saw the bloodied and broken body, and if he could, he would have thrown up. He hurried to heal her, to bring her back from the brink, all the while cursing that Knight of Hell to a fate worse that Hell and Purgatory combined. He couldn't lose her.  
He placed his hand on her forehead and tried not to think about how cold she was. He blocked all other thoughts, but to heal her before he had to dive into Hell to get her back.  
Sam and Dean looked at each other, worry in their eyes. They had never seen their friend so desperate. The wounds didn't seem to be healing. She wasn't healing. He wasn't strong enough. She was too far gone.  
Dean placed his hand on his friend's shoulder, and squatted down next to him. With his other hand, he tried to pull the angel's hand away from Rosaline. "Cas... I'm sorry…"  
Castiel turned to glare at Dean, eyes blazing angelic blue, and pushed him away. He returned to Rosaline, and with this new power, tried to heal her again.

Rosaline's eyes slowly opened, and she felt a large, warm hand take hers, and another arm supporting her head. She noted that it was Sam holding her, and she smiled softly up at him. At least, that was until another pair of arms grabbed her and held her tight.  
"I'm okay, Cas," Rosaline said, hugging the angel back tightly. "You saved me… I'm okay…"  
He didn't let her go. His breathing was ragged. "I… I was afraid that I had lost you.." He murmured into her hair. She could feel his heart pounding under her ear.  
"I'm okay, Castiel…" She reassured him, burying her face in his chest. "Thank you."  
Dean broke the lovers' reunion. "Abaddon shouldn't have been able to find you. Castiel had the entire town warded."  
Rosaline turned in Castiel's embrace to face him. "She pretended to be a friend of mine. She called herself Abby, and she would always find a way to back out of meeting Cas…"  
"That explains a lot." Castiel muttered, and pulled her back so she was leaning against his chest. "Did I mention that I never liked her? I do recall once mentioning her shady behaviour and-"  
"And you say that to everyone I know…" Rosaline muttered.  
Someone cleared their throat from the doorway, and everyone looked up to see Crowley, casually swinging Abaddon's head by her long red hair. "Well, don't everyone go thanking me at once," Crowley said with a roll of his eyes. "It's not like I beheaded a Knight of Hell or anything. Here Moose, catch." He tossed the head at Sam. He caught it, grimaced, and passed it to his brother. Dean stared at Abaddon's head, and decided that holding it by the hair was a better idea.  
Rosaline struggled from Castiel's iron grip and got up from the cold ground. Then she did something that surprised everyone. She went over to Crowley and wrapped her arms around him. The King of Hell stared at her like she had lost her mind, and slowly hugged her back.  
"Thank you…" She whispered. Part of her liked the warmth coming off Crowley, and the feeling of being in his arms. He felt… Safe., despite him being, quite possibly, the most dangerous man on Earth. It was the same thing that had attracted her to Castiel in the beginning. She quickly shook the image of her and Crowley as a couple out of her mind, and took a step away, her cheeks red.  
"Don't worry about it, Angel Bait," Crowley said, grinning. "It was the least I could do, seeing as Bird was a little preoccupied with some magic." He reached up and mussed her hair.  
That made the boys and her stare in shock. For a demon, let alone the King of Hell, to show affection or kindness to anyone was unheard of.  
Dean cleared his throat, eyeing the demon. "Well, now that this is all sorted, get lost." Crowley chuckled and teleported away.  
"What was that about?" Sam wondered, coming to stand in front of Rosaline to make sure she was okay.  
She shrugged and patted his arm. "I don't know," she admitted. She didn't know why she had hugged him. "He helped take out the bad guy, so I guess he deserved a hug."  
"I didn't like it." Castiel muttered.  
"You don't like anything." Rosaline rolled her eyes, and hugged both brothers quickly, before returning to Castiel's side. "Thank you, for saving me. You're welcome to stay the night – or what's left of it – at our place." Castiel wrapped his arms around her, and put his chin on her shoulder.  
Dean held up Abaddon's head and shrugged. "You guys got a wine cooler?"


	6. Chapter 6

Crowley returned to Hell with the rest of Abaddon's body. He planned on scattering pieces of her across the globe in cement deep underground, but not tonight. His mind was on other things. He could still feel the warmth of Rosaline's embrace, her small body against his, her face pressed against his chest… He needed more of it.  
He threw Abaddon into footlocker at the base of his bed, and called off the forming reinforcements. He was fine, Rosaline was fine. Crowley laid down on his bed, his hands clasped behind his head, and thought of Rosaline. He tried to understand what was different about her, why she made him feel so strange, and why her touch sent tingles down his spine. He tried not to admit to himself how much her hug had affected him, but it was useless. He wanted her. The King of Hell wanted some weak, innocent young girl, who was now thrown into danger's path because of his influence. Castiel had kept her safe, but Crowley was unintentionally ruining that protection.  
Maybe he would visit her again. She was such a precious little thing, and seeing her asleep was something that made him feel those damned warm and fuzzies. The brothers would probably keep Bird busy, while Rosaline slept, anyway. "Decisions, decisions, decisions…"

Sam and Dean had hot-wired a nearby car and driven them home, after they had decided to stay for the night. "Beer and whiskey is in the fridge, and sorry Dean, it's not the cheap stuff." Rosaline grinned when Dean made a face.  
"Thank you, Rosie," Sam said, recovering for his brother as they entered the house. "Will you be drinking with us?"  
She pursed her lips and looked up at Castiel. Her head was a little fuzzy, but she ignored it.  
He still hadn't let her out of his reach since she had hugged Crowley. He looked back down at her, and smiled gently. "Please do remember," He began, casting a stern glance at the brothers. "That Rose has been through a lot tonight, we all have." He pulled her into his chest, and only then did she notice she was shaking. Cas must have only noticed this too, because he pressed the back of his palm against her forehead and frowned. "You are a little cooler than normal." He noted, then frowned. "Are you dizzy?"  
"A little…" She admitted.  
Castiel swept her up into his arms in a quick motion, and turned to the brothers. "I believe she may be in shock, which is completely natural after an ordeal such as hers. I will take her to bed, and return to you two shortly."

Once Castiel had laid her on the bed and made sure she was okay, he kissed her cheek and disappeared downstairs. She sat in the darkness for a while, listening to the Winchesters and Castiel talk about their recent cases, and the night's events. Dean was almost ecstatic that Abaddon was out of commission, and both Sam and Castiel were worried about Rosaline.  
She rolled over and stared out the open window until her eyes started to get heavy. It was cool in the room, and the air smelt of oncoming rain. Usually at this time, the moon was visible through the window, but a thick layer of clouds covered the sky now.  
Despite the lack of light, she could tell the instant he was in the room. However, she remained calm and kept looking through the window. "What are you doing in here, Crowley?" She whispered, hoping that Castiel was too busy to hear their conversation.  
He must have been, because he didn't fly up when Crowley spoke from the corner of the room. "I was in the neighbourhood, y'know." His shadowy figure shrugged.  
"Why are you really here?"  
Crowley didn't answer. He stayed in his corner for a couple minutes, listening to the sounds of night through the window.  
She decided ask a different question. "Was that you last night…? When Cas was downstairs…?"  
Crowley took a deep breath, and let it go in a rush. "Yes."  
"Why?"  
He didn't answer, and after a while, she started to doubt if he was still there. Rosaline sighed and closed her eyes, sinking into the mattress. Her mind was still reeling from what had just happened, and something Abaddon said stuck in her mind. She sat up and eyed the corner. "Can we go somewhere where we can talk?" She asked. She instantly knew that Castiel would be angry with her, and gallivanting through the world with the King of Hell who had snuck into her bedroom didn't sound like a great idea, either, but she needed to talk to him.  
"Of course." He walked over to the bed, placed a hand on her shoulder, and suddenly they were gone.

Wherever Crowley had taken her, it was warm. The room was dark, lit by a smouldering fire in the fireplace, and several candles throughout the room. The walls themselves were made of heavy stone, and there was a large double bed in the corner, covered in dark silk sheets. By the fire there seemed to be a throne, or at least a chair large enough to be a throne, beside a small table supporting a fine bottle of whiskey and two glasses.  
Crowley waited for her to finish surveying the room before he spoke. "What was it that you wanted to ask me?"  
Rosaline frowned at the room. "This has just raised more questions… Where are we?"  
Crowley looked around and shrugged. "Hell." He said casually. "Or to be precise, the King's Quarters."  
She looked at Crowley suspiciously. Castiel would kill him if he knew she was in Hell. With the King. In his bedroom. And then he would kill her. She sighed and looked back at him. "He's going to murder you for this." She warned, making the demon chuckle.  
"What? Bird? Nah, he'll think about it, but he won't get too far." He smirked. "Now, what were you going to ask me?"  
"Abaddon said that you did something to me… Something that was hidden from Castiel… What did you do to me?"  
Crowley played it off, but Rosaline could see straight through him. "I believe you were suffering from the blood loss, my dear."  
"Then how did you know where I was?" Her voice was tight. She hoped that Crowley didn't hear the traces of fear in it.  
He did. He gently took her hand and rubbed it between his own as he spoke. "It was the simple matter of being in the right place at the right time, for me at least."  
He was lying, and she hated it. "Just tell me the truth!" She insisted, her eyes wide and pleading. "Please…"  
Something in Crowley's eyes changed and he sighed. "Fine. I know, because I have my people keeping an eye on you. Bird is already trying to stop me from collecting my half of the deal, that's what he was talking about last night. I've made it so he won't be able to get you to heaven to hide from the Hellhounds."  
Despite her crestfallen face, she nodded. "I expected as much." She sighed and looked up at him. "You should probably get me home before Castiel gets realises I'm gone and sends a legion down here to retrieve me." She suggested.  
Crowley nodded, held her around the waist, and took them home.

Castiel hadn't noticed their absence, but he must have felt a shift in the air as they returned. Crowley had barely left when Castiel was in the room, staring at her upright form. "You should be asleep." He said, narrowing his eyes.  
"It's nice to see you too…" Rosaline muttered and sunk back into the bed. Crowley had ensured he would leave no trace of sulfur behind this time, as to not worry Castiel any further.  
"I did not wish to imply that it is not nice to see you," he said quickly as he lay down beside her. "I just meant-"  
"I know what you meant, Cas," she interrupted and snuggled up close beside him. "I just thought you would have said something else, especially after what I've been through."  
He wrapped an arm around her, and pulled her onto his chest. "Perhaps I should have been more sympathetic, forgive me."  
She smiled and leaned up to kiss him gently. "You're forgiven."  
Castiel held her tightly against him with one arm, and pulled the covers around them with the other. He kissed her back, one hand locked tight in her hair, and the other holding her to him. "I can't lose you…" He whispered when they broke away for air.  
"You won't." But as she said it, Rosaline wasn't all too sure she believed it.  
Just as her lips met Castiel's again, the door opened and Dean walked through. "Jesus, Cas!" He took a step back and looked away.  
Rosaline blushed hid under the covers while Castiel sat up. "He was a nice man, a little too much focused on what you might call 'party tricks' however."  
Rosaline chuckled as Dean rolled his eyes. "That's great to know, Cas, really. But Sam and I need to talk to you when you're… Not occupied."  
"He's not occupied anymore." Rosaline muttered and touched Castiel's arm. "Go. I'll be fine."  
He nodded and got out of bed, still fully dressed, and walked out with Dean.  
"Well that was awkward." She muttered to herself before rolling over and closing her eyes.


	7. Chapter 7

Castiel was gone for a full week before she heard from him again. He appeared in the living room one night, drenched in old blood, while Rosaline was finishing her dinner. She got up and rushed over to him, checking him quickly for any fresh wounds, before she was pulled tightly against him.  
"I missed you…" She whispered into his chest, embracing him.  
Cas stroked her hair and sighed. "And I, you."  
They stayed together like that for another moment before she broke away. "Was it another case?"  
"Sam and Dean believe they are close to finding what they need, and to fixing our demon problem." Castiel replied and sat down on the arm of the sofa.  
"You mean, 'my demon problem'. It's my fault I sold my soul, Cas."  
He placed a hand on her arm and smiled softly. "But you did it for love, which was a very honourable thing to do. We will fix this, Rose."  
She sat on the ground, leaning her against his shins, and didn't respond. She knew that it was a hopeless crusade for the men, but she didn't dare rain on their parade. "Let's get you cleaned up, huh?"  
She led Castiel upstairs and into the laundry, and as she started to unbutton his shirt, a question popped into her head. "Whose blood is this, anyway?"  
He looked down at himself as if he had forgotten it was there. "Oh, this? I think it's mine."  
She tossed his clothes into the washing machine and leaned against it, looking at him. "How can you think that the blood is yours? How can you doubt it?"  
"The Winchesters had a small case they needed to take care of and I helped them. We fought, I got attacked by a vampire. They said it was going to be a 'milk-run', though we did forget the milk."  
She rolled her eyes and kissed Castiel's nose. "You're an idiot. But I'm happy you're back."  
"While you're at it, mind throwing this is for me?" Crowley had appeared on the other side of the room, his tie hanging on his finger.  
Castiel, who was only in his white boxers in that moment, swept Rosaline behind him and picked up his angel blade. "What do you want, Crowley?"  
The demon chuckled. "If I knew that Bird would be stripping, I may-"  
Rosaline interrupted him. She stepped out from behind Cas and looked up at the demon, frowning. "Why are you here? And don't turn it into a joke, either."  
Crowley looked at her, an eyebrow raised. "Well, I just thought I'd pop in for a chat. From what I've heard, Angel Bait has been home alone for the past while, and I thought I would see if she was still breathing."  
Castiel's eyes narrowed. "You would have known if she was deceased."  
"I don't personally introduce myself to all the new additions to Hell, Bird. There are more important matters that I, the King, need to attend to."  
"Such as visiting Rosaline?" Castiel almost growled.  
"Boys, boys," Rosaline said, putting a hand on both of their chests to stop them from ripping each other apart. "Stop. If you want me to wash your tie, I will." She took it from his hand, placed it in the washing machine, and turned it on. "Now, if you want it back…" She sat on the lid to stop either of them getting it. "Tell me why you're here."  
Castiel smiled at Crowley's surprised face. The demon composed himself and smirked. "I was checking on you, darling." The endearment made Castiel visibly stiffen. "Hell is a mighty fast place for rumours to spread."  
Rosaline frowned at the King of Hell. His odd moments of kindness and his awful timing were beginning to confuse her. She hadn't told Castiel this, but Crowley had visited her most nights. He would simply stand by the window looking at her until she fell asleep, or they would chat until the early hours of the morning. But coming into her house while Castiel was home? That was a different. Something was different. "What did you come here to say?"  
"Quick, isn't she?" Crowley said to Castiel, who still had his angel blade ready.  
"Crowley…"  
"Nothing. Someone mentioned that there was something happening down up here, so I decided to take a look." He sighed and rolled his eyes. "Aren't you all a little bunch of heaven-loving goodie two-shoes…" He muttered under his breath.  
Rosaline took a deep breath and slid off the washing machine, got her coat from the stack of clean clothes, and looked at the boys. "I am going for a walk. You two can argue, but the testosterone levels in this room are too high for me. I'll be back later."  
"Rose, I'll accompany you." Castiel said and started after her.  
She turned and looked at him, an eyebrow raised. "You, my silly little angel, are in only your boxers. If you walk around like that outside, you may just get arrested for public indecency." When it looked like Crowley was about to offer, she just stared at him until he backed down. "I can handle myself." She said and walked out the front door.

It was a cold night for late spring. A little too cold for Rosaline to be walking about. She hurried into a nearby bar and took a stool. After she had put her head in her hands, the bartender came up with a glass of something light brown and slid beside her. "It's on the house."  
She looked up and gave him a tired smile. "Thank you."  
He winked. "No worries." He paused, looked around to see if anyone nearby would hear them, and lowered his head to her. "Anyway, what's a pretty little lady like you doing in a place like here so late?"  
She picked up the cup and rolled it between her palms. "Boy trouble."  
"Boy trouble? Well, good thing you've got a leading expert on men right here." He joked.  
Rosaline had taken a sip of the alcohol and almost spat it back out when he said that. "Well, I'm pretty sure you'd call me crazy if I told you everything…" She admitted.  
"Try me. I finish in ten." She must not have looked convinced, so he sweetened the deal. "I'll even buy you a couple rounds?"  
She rolled her eyes and dramatically sighed. "Fine then, the name's Rosaline." She finished her drink and smiled up at him. "Hit me." He poured her another and she thanked him, and headed over to a secluded area of the bar.  
She didn't wait long. The bartender came out and quickly found her, got them another round, and came over. He slid into the seat across from her and smiled. He had a nice toothy smile that made him look a little silly, and light curly hair. And a plain human being. "Sorry about the wait, ma'am." He winked.  
She rolled her eyes. "You better be."  
They drank in silence for a moment before he spoke. "I'm Justin, by the way."  
"Well, Justin, I guess you want to hear why I'm sitting here, instead of at home, huh?" She wondered why she so comfortable around Justin. Maybe it was the fact that he was human, and that she had spent too much time around demons and angels.  
"Sure." She chuckled and took a sip of his drink.  
"Well, how familiar are you with angels and demons?" She said, raising an eyebrow.

She explained everything to him, including the 'metaphorical angel and demon' in her life while he sat there, listening. After a moment he nodded. "Well, I say you take a break from both of them for a while. Maybe hang out at a friend's place and get some distance so you can understand what's going on." He suggested. "Crowley seems like a nice guy if he saved you from whatever your life-threatening ordeal was, and he has more influence than Castiel. Cas is unpredictable, like how he just vanished on you for a week, and he's been doing that for years? Crowley you can rely on more, he seems more loyal. And how do you know that Castiel isn't out banging a chick for those disappearing moments?"  
"Crowley isn't always there either, Justin…" She muttered and finished her fifth drink. The room was spinning and she was tired.  
"But you and him aren't together, either. Though I could tell that there was part of you that wanted that."  
"So what?" She snapped, glaring at him. "So what if I like the King of Hell, himself? He saved my life when Castiel physically couldn't! He had to get his friends to help me!"  
Justin raised his hands and lowered his head in surrender. "I'm sorry, I'm only trying to help…"  
"I know… I'm sorry." She cursed herself and stood up, a little woozily. Justin came around the table and took hold of her shoulders, making sure she wasn't about to fall. "Nah, I'm okay." She mumbled.  
"Here, I'll take you home." He offered. "Did you drive?"  
She shook her head. "I… I didn't. Don't worry. I'll call Cas." She fumbled through her pockets and swore when she couldn't find her phone. "I'll walk."  
"Not in this state, you won't."  
Justin led her outside and started walking with an arm around her shoulder. When they were a little ways away from the bar, he turned and started heading down an alley.  
"This isn't the way to my house…" Rosaline said, confused.  
Justin's grip on her tightened. "Maybe not… But it'll make do for now…" He said and pushed her up against a wall.


	8. Chapter 8

Rosaline started to struggle against Justin, but a quick and heavy blow to the jaw stopped that. It made her eyes water. "If you scream, I'll kill you…" He whispered the warning into her ear. "Believe me, I would take great pleasure in killing you…" One of his hands started to unbuckle his belt, and she struggled again, trying her hardest to get free.  
She jerked her knee up and got him in the groin. He cursed and dropped her hands, and while he was doubled over in pain, she tried to make a run for it. She had barely made it three steps before he grabbed her arm and pulled her back, tight against him. He hit her again, this time hard enough to make her head spin twice as fast and her eyes blur.  
"Don't do that you little bitch!" He snarled and hit her a third time, and she could have sworn she was about to pass out. She was tossed onto the cement ground and he straddled her hips, pinning her hands above her again. She'd had the fight knocked out of her, or at least the sense to fight. She shouldn't have left home. She should have stayed and diffused whatever testosterone-filled tension there was between Crowley and Castiel. She shouldn't have let her guard down.  
Justin finished unbuckling his belt and started on undoing her skirt. She kicked out, tried to get her hands free, but he was too strong. Too strong for a human. Realisation dawned on her at that moment. He wasn't 'plainly human' as she once thought. As she looked up at him in the dim light, she could see that his eyes were demonic black, not the light green they were before. "So you're Crowley's new little bitch, huh? Well, let's see what all the fuss is about…" He chuckled and leaned in close, his teeth grazing her earlobe as she spoke. "After all… A King doesn't go for little peasant girl's unless they have something to offer him in return…"  
He jerked her skirt up after giving up on trying to undo it, and slid his jeans down to his knees. As she was about to scream, he kissed her harshly to silence her. "You've got fight, even for a drunken little slut… Mmm… I like that. Is that what he likes too…?"  
Rosaline was crying. She couldn't escape him. She couldn't fight him. There was no way she was getting out of there. She was mentally preparing herself when Justin lit up. The veins in his body started to glow with orange light, and then he fell, limp on top of her, causing her to scream.  
Someone grabbed her arm and pulled her up, away from the corpse. At that point, she didn't care who. She held onto them while they wrapped a heavy woollen coat around her. "You're okay," The voice reassured her. "You're okay."  
She fixed herself up while the man went back over to the body, rolled it over, and looked at it with an angry expression on his face.  
"It was… A demon… One of yours…?"  
Crowley nodded and looked up at her worry clear in his eyes. "Did he hurt you?" His voice made it clear that he wasn't talking about punches. Rosaline shook her head. "Good." He straightened up and pulled her into his arms again, letting her cling onto him for as long as she needed.  
By the time Crowley had taken her home, she was asleep.

Crowley appeared in the front room of her house with Rosaline asleep in his arms, still wearing his coat. Castiel stood up quickly and went to take her from the demon's arms, but stopped, looking at her. "What happened?"  
Crowley didn't respond for a moment, he kept his eyes on the sleeping woman with the bruised jaw who looked strangely content in his arms. "She went out drinking, met one of my men, and he almost got her."  
"Got her how?" Castiel asked as he reached out to heal her.  
The demon's voice was tight when he answered. "Rape." That made the angel pale. "And before you ask, he is dead."  
Cas nodded and pointed up the stairs. "Her bedroom is the first door on the left."  
He nodded and started walking up, minding her head on the walls. He could have easily teleported up, but that would have lessened the amount of time he could hold her. Instead, he took his time, and reluctantly set her down on her bed. He watched her curl up under the covers, and twitch. From what he knew of human sleep behaviour, that wasn't normal. He placed his hand on her head and smoothed back her hair, humming the same lullaby from the previous week. It seemed to settle her.  
Once she had stopped twitching and her face donned that peaceful smile that he loved, he stood up and walked quietly back down the stairs. "She's asleep."  
"I know." Castiel looked at the demon with dark eyes. "Explain how you could find her when I couldn't."  
"Bird, I'm just conveniently always in the wrong place at the wrong time, every time. Call it… A hidden talent, if you will." He grinned. "Expect me tomorrow to collect my coat and tie." He said, and teleported away.


	9. Chapter 9

Rosaline could feel a pair of arms around her as she started to come to, and before she was fully aware, she had yelped and pushed them away. Her mind replayed the events of the previous night, and her face started to sweat. The arms were back, this time holding onto her hands as she started to hyperventilate.  
Justin.  
Her head was pounding. The light from the window was too bright. The hands were warm and familiar and not Justin's, but that didn't make them any safer.  
"Rose? Rosaline? It's me. Don't fear." Castiel said, trying to draw her back into his arms.  
She couldn't. She pushed him away and hurried downstairs, not even noticing she was still wearing Crowley's coat. She made it to the bathroom, locked the door, and slid down, head on her knees. Castiel was on the other side in an instant, knocking gently. "Rosaline…?"  
"Go away…" She mewled, hugging her legs to her chest. "Just go away…"  
She heard his footsteps disappear, then stop abruptly. "What are you doing here?" Castiel asked, and Rosaline looked up, despite the door separating her from the visitor.  
"I told you I'd come to collect my belongings today, or have you forgotten?" It was Crowley. She looked down at herself and cursed. His jacket was still on her. He mustn't have taken it last night when she had been put to bed.  
"She's doesn't want to talk, Crowley." Castiel warned as a set of footsteps approached the bathroom door. "Leave her alone."  
He didn't listen. But instead of teleporting to the other side of the door as she had expected, he knocked. "Rosaline...?" He spoke in a low voice. "May I please come in…?"  
She deliberated for a moment, wondering what he would do if she let him in. She hadn't let Castiel in, so why would she let Crowley in? After a time, she stood up, wiped a tear away with the sleeve of his coat, and unlocked the door.  
Crowley slowly entered and looked at Rosaline, taking in the tear stroked face complete with running mascara, standing in a coat that was long enough to lose her hands in, and with mussed bed-hair and bruised jaw, before closing the door behind him and opened his arms.  
Rosaline looked at him for a moment, before wearily stepping into his embrace. She started to cry again, and he held her until she stopped. He didn't speak, or complain about getting makeup on his finely tailored suit, he just waited for her to cry herself out before sitting her down on the closed toilet lid, and squatted down beside her. "Are you alright…?"  
She shook her head and rubbed her eyes with the sleeve of his coat again. "No… Crowley, how am I supposed to be alright after something like that…?"  
He took her hands in his and slowly rubbed his thumbs over the back of her palms. "Bird said he would find you last night, and for me to stay where I was. He returned and said he couldn't. It shouldn't have taken so long." He looked up at her, his expression oddly soft. "I'm sorry…"  
She nodded slowly before she wrapped her arms around his neck and held him tightly. "I'm not okay, Crowley… He was… He was a demon…"  
"I know." His voice was tight. "His associates, and whatever family he has left is being tortured as we speak, and eventually murdered after they pay for his wrong-doings."  
She stayed pressed against his chest, hiding her face. Eventually, she sighed and pulled away. "I should probably give you back your jacket now…" She mumbled and started to slide it off her shoulders.  
The demon tilted his head to the side and pulled it back up around her. "To tell you the truth," he whispered, his head leaned close to her ear. "The reason of my visiting was to check on you, not get my garments back. You can keep the coat. I have other pairs. Anyway, it looks good on you." He smiled and tilted her chin up gently.  
She smiled weakly back up at him. "Thank you…"  
"Anytime." He looked back at the door and took her hand. "Bird is probably waiting for us. Come on." He gently coaxed her out of the bathroom and into Castiel's waiting arms.  
She hated to admit, but there was something about Crowley's hugs that she liked more. It was safer, she decided. Cas was strong, his whole body was a machine of war, but there was a different feeling in the demon's arms, as if nothing could ever hurt her, no matter how much and what they sacrificed. "Are you alright, Rose?"  
She peeked over Castiel's shoulder to look at Crowley for an answer. He shrugged. "I… I think I'm okay now…" She whispered. "I'm sorry…"  
"Don't worry, you had a night that I would wish on very few people." He took a step back to look at her, and traced her cheekbone with his thumb. "I apologise it took so long to find you. Here, let me clear you up." He touched her forehead, and a warm buzzing feeling filled her face as the bruises along her jaw, and her hangover, were fixed. "There, much better."  
"Thank you…" She smiled and looked at both the men. "I'm sorry for walking out on both of you last night. I should have been more responsible…"  
Castiel tilted his head to the side, his blue eyes confused. "There is no need to apologise, Rosaline. I will admit, we we're being childish."  
"He's speaking for himself," Crowley said with a roll of his eyes. "I was not being childish. I simply wanted my tie washed, and the opportunity arose."  
She stared at both of them, thoroughly unimpressed. "You two talk out whatever upset you last night, while I shower. And I swear to God that if either one of you come in, I will personally throttle you."  
Crowley seemed to be considering the offer, but Rosaline's harsh look made him chuckle and raise his hands. "I promise not to, and I will keep Bird out too."  
"My name is Castiel…" He muttered and looked away.  
She rolled her eyes and headed upstairs and quickly showered. When she was clean, she stepped out of the ensuite and cursed herself. Rosaline had forgotten to take clean clothes with her. She wrapped the towel tightly around herself and peeked out to see if anyone was in the bedroom, and as they weren't, she padded out and started rifling through the drawers. She quickly found an oversized shirt of Cas's that she had made him buy, and a pair of soft flannel pants. As she turned around, someone coughed. She yelped and almost dropped the towel. She turned up to scowl at Castiel. "I'm changing…"  
"I can see that…" He muttered, his face going red. She looked down at herself, then back up at him.  
An idea began to play in her mind, and she dropped the clothes and beckoned Castiel forward. "Close the door…"  
He did what he was told and came closer. He swallowed thickly and blinked at her. "Y-yes…?"  
She took him by the tie and pulled him down to her height. He kissed her gently, and she kissed him back, one hand reached up to tangle in his hair, while the other stayed firmly around her towel.  
Castiel pulled back after a moment, and looked down at her. "What's wrong…?"  
She shook her head. "Nothing. Never mind. Now scoot while I get dressed." Rosaline shooed him out the door and closed it behind him. She didn't react to him the same way anymore. She mentally cursed herself and changed, and put on Crowley's coat. So Castiel had noticed something was wrong. He's bound to be suspicious now… Damn it!  
She carefully walked down the stairs and sat beside Castiel, leaning her head on his shoulder. "Have you sorted yourselves out?" She wondered, looking between the angel and demon.  
Cas sighed and held her hand. "Yes. We have spoken and come to an agreement."  
"Good." She smiled and closed her eyes, enjoying Castiel's warmth through the coat. At least, that was until her stomach rumbled loud enough for Crowley, who was sitting across the room to hear it and look at her. She felt her face going red. "I was hungover, I was almost assaulted last night, and you look at me like I'm crazy because I'm hungry? Human stomachs do rumble, you know!" She said defensively and moved her head so it was between Castiel's back and the sofa.  
"What would you like?" Her angel asked, taking one of her hands.  
"Crepes. With blueberries and maple syrup and chocolate." She looked up at him, smirking. "I dare you to try and find them."  
There was a click of fingers, and then the smell of warm crepes, and fresh fruit. Rosaline carefully sat up, narrowing her eyes at the plate that had materialised on the coffee table. "Anything else?" Crowley smiled.  
She frowned at him. "Cookies and cream ice cream on the side."  
He clicked again, making two perfect scoops of ice cream appear on the side of the plate, and raised his eyebrows. "Is that all?"  
She decided to put him to the test. For the next half hour, she asked for an assortment of odds and ends, different kinds of foods, clothing, artwork even. He had admitted that giving her the Mona Lisa was a little too conspicuous, and she had agreed.  
"I'm impressed." Rosaline said, wonder still on her face, and her breakfast forgotten. "But I don't really need this stuff."  
"No matter." Crowley clicked his fingers and everything disappeared.  
Castiel had pulled her onto his lap, his arms holding her against him and his chin on her shoulder as Rosaline became absorbed in the demon's power, but at that, he gave her a tight squeeze. "You should eat." He murmured into her ear. "You need energy."  
She shrugged and leaned back against him. "I'm not hungry anymore."  
A milkshake appeared on the seat beside her, along with a curly straw. "At least drink that," Crowley said, gesturing to the drink.  
She rolled her eyes dramatically and took a sip. She didn't want to admit it, but it was definitely the best she had ever had. It was strawberry flavoured, and it had the perfect ratios of everything. She sighed and relaxed against Castiel's chest. "Woah… Cas, even though you don't eat or drink, you have to try this…" She said, holding it up to the angel behind her.  
He smiled, took a sip, and nodded. "Very nice."  
She held it up to Crowley, tilting her head to the side to non-vocally ask if he wanted some, which he politely declined. "It's all yours, Angel Bait." He said, smiled, and disappeared.  
"I don't like him." Castiel said the moment he was gone. "I don't like the way he acts around you, either."  
"Since when do you like anyone I like?" She murmured and took another sip. "Can we just have a stay at home day, today? Or go visit the Winchesters? I just want an easy day… And Dean does make the best burgers…"  
Castiel nodded and pulled her close. "Of course. After you finish that milkshake."


	10. Chapter 10

They were at the bunker within the hour, surprising both Sam and Dean who had both their heads buried in books. Dean was the first to get up, almost leaping from the bookwork to hug her. "Rosaline!" He said cheerfully, picking her up and spinning her in a circle. "Long time no see!"  
"It's been a week, Dean…" She muttered as she was set back on the ground, flustered from the spinning.  
Sam's mouth spread into a wide grin as he wrapped her in a tight hug. "Rose!" He cried and picked her up.  
She grimaced and squirmed out of his hold, and shot an uneasy look at Castiel. The angel got the message and asked both of the boys to meet him in the other room. She guessed it was to explain to them why she was behaving so oddly, and by their pale, somewhat murderous faces when they returned, it was clear that was so.  
"I'm okay, though…" She said quietly as Cas wrapped an arm around her waist. "Crowley saved me…"  
"Again?" Dean asked, his eyes narrowing. "This all seems a little too convenient for Crowley, doesn't it?"  
Sam nodded in agreement. "There's always one way to ask him what he's up to." They looked at each other, then at Cas for his approval.  
"Call first." He suggested, and Dean quickly took out his phone and dialled. After a moment, he shook his head. "No answer."  
Sam glanced at Rose, and was about to say something when he stopped. He nudged Dean's arm, and pointed to her, and both of their eyes narrowed. "Isn't that Crowley's jacket…?" Dean asked, his eyebrows low over his green eyes, and his tone strangely dark.  
She shrank into Castiel's chest and nodded meekly. "Y-yes…"  
"Dean…" Cas warned, glaring. "Don't."  
She put a hand on the angel's arm to stop him. "It's okay." She murmured, and took a step forward to let Dean see it better. Something in her cracked at that moment, maybe it was how he was about to push her around, or maybe it was just the stress of the past night, but something in her changed for a moment. "It is Crowley's jacket. I wear it because I feel safe in it. He saved me from being raped, and you two were probably sitting here drinking, or working, or something. You try almost getting raped by a demon that you can't fight against, then see how it feels to wear your saviour's jacket!" She stared at Dean, her eyes sharp and tight.  
The brothers, were both taken aback by her outburst. Sam glanced at his brother and choked back a laugh when he saw his shocked expression.  
Slow applause filled the room, and all eyes looked up to the top of the stairs. Crowley was standing there, his forearms leaning on the railing, chuckling. "Good show," he said as she started to walk down the stairs. "Almost lost it there for a moment, did you Squirrel?" He stood a little in front of the brothers, smiling. "Don't you think my coat looks good on her? I think it does. But I guess you wish it's your coat she was wearing, eh, Squirrel?"  
Dean's eyes widened, then narrowed. "What are you talking about?"  
"Oh, come on!" Crowley sighed, obviously enjoying toying with Dean. "You think you can hide everything from the world, don't you? You're an open book to those who can read."  
"Dean…?" Sam asked, coming around to stand beside Crowley, and to get a better look at his brother. "What is he talking about?"  
"Nothing!" Dean snapped, and turned to glare at the demon. "He's lying."  
"Baby, don't flirt with me in public." Crowley said, winking.  
Rosaline stood there, her face going red, and not all entirely sure what to do. She was pulled back into Castiel's solid chest, and he took a step back slightly to the side. She cast a quick glance up at him, a frown pulling down the corners of her mouth. It was almost as if he were prepping for something that he didn't want her to get in the way of.  
Sam started to laugh at the comment and he placed a hand on Crowley's arm. Except his hand wasn't empty. There was an engraved iron cuff in his hand that he slapped around the demon's wrist, and in his confusion, Sam put the other cuff on Crowley's other wrist.  
It was a trap. They knew how to get to Crowley through her, and they hadn't told her. She was pretty sure she would have somehow clued the demon in if she did know, and she could understand that her emotions would be faked and Crowley would know something was amiss. But the fact remained that they knew more about what was going on with her, than she knew.  
Crowley stared at Sam with wide eyes. "Chains? I'm here for two seconds and you've got me in chains?" No one answered him, and Dean started to lead him down one of the halls. "Great, back to the dungeon. I hope you brought whips this time."  
Rosaline followed behind them, her mouth slightly agape and her eyes still wide at the sudden turn of events. Dean locked Crowley up, and she finally got the nerve to speak up, even if it was only loud enough for Sam to hear. "What are you doing…?" She looked at Crowley's annoyed form, then back to the man at her side. "He didn't do anything wrong."  
"He's still the King of Hell," Dean said from across the room before his brother could answer. "And he still owns your soul."  
Good hearing, she thought, then turned to glare at Dean. "And he has saved me, twice."  
"Well, technically only once. Me and Sam saved you the first time."  
"And you wouldn't have been able to get to me if he hadn't have come to kill Abaddon!" She yelled back.  
Castiel pulled her back and turned her away from Dean. Over her head, she addressed the brothers. "I let her believe that we were coming over for lunch, not to trap Crowley."  
"Wait." She said, pushing him away from her. "You knew, too?"  
Castiel nodded slowly, his eyes intent on hers. "Yes."  
"I can't believe this!" She threw her hands up, turned and walked over to Crowley, so she could glare at the boys. She locked eyes with everyone slowly as she spoke. "I've been through so much with all of you. Three years of putting up with your nonsense, getting tortured, almost getting raped – both of which were in the last two weeks, and you trick me, to get to him," she gestured to Crowley, "the same way as Abaddon did?"  
"She's got a point." The demon said, shrugging.  
She spun on him. "You. Just shut up." She looked back at the men in front of her, and shook her head slowly. "I'm going home. I'm taking my car, and I'm warding it all against angels. Don't follow me, because I'm really, really not in the mood."  
Castiel tried to pull Rosaline to him as she stormed past, but she whirled on him. Her hand shot up his sleeve and retrieved the angel blade before he could stop her, and she held it to his neck. "Don't." He slowly let her go and she kept walking, leaving the blade on the shelf beside the door.  
As she headed down the corridor, she heard a snark remark from the chained demon, and the sound of heavy flesh meeting flesh. Probably Cas punching Crowley, she thought, and kept walking. Her heart hurt and her eyes were stinging. Castiel of all people, had set up the trap, and must have filled the boys in while they were in the other room.  
As she slid into her black vintage Mustang – a present from Castiel – she thought about the four she was leaving behind. She didn't know if it was permanent, or if she would let them back into her life. At this point, she didn't even know what she would do if they weren't there for her, after all, the last friend she had tried to make was a demon, and an attempted rapist, and also dead. She didn't know if she could trust anyone, anymore.  
Rosaline roared out of the bunker, and down the road to the highway. She could spend a couple nights in her car, and then sort out what to do. Maybe she would hit a nice town and stay for a while. She'd told the boys where she was supposedly headed, and she had never strayed from plans before, so they wouldn't be find her easily.  
She spun around on the highway, and started down the other way. She wouldn't go home. She would just find a place far away where she could sort herself out. Everything is going to be okay, right?


	11. Chapter 11

After her baby had been scoured for any tracking chips – as Castiel always had a thing for hiding locaters throughout her car – and her phone had been discarded on the side of the road, Rosaline started to relax. It had been a little over two days, and she was beginning to let her guard down. She was in another state, a big town, and a little shabby motel room. Everything was okay, again.

She was heading down to catch a movie with a few people she had met when she was getting lunch, when she first heard it. It was a howl, probably from someone's overly large dog in a nearby yard. She rolled her eyes and started to get ready.  
She got in her car and narrowed her eyes. Something was off. She slid out of the Mustang and quickly located the problem. One of her wheels were slashed, four slices along the top. She turned slowly, taking long, deep breaths to calm herself. There we no security cameras facing her direction, and if there were, the rain that had started to fall would too heavy to see far, so there was little she could do but replace the tire.  
Her footsteps and the howling – was it coming closer? – were the only things she could hear as she opened the boot. She got out the jack and started to lift the wheel.  
Pat. Pat.  
She spun around, searching the empty carpark. There had been footsteps behind her, light and quick, but still footsteps. In the dark, and rain, it was difficult to see. She couldn't find anyone, or anything. She turned, bent down, and began taking off the tire, still keeping an ear out for anything.  
Rosaline had put the fresh tire in place and almost got it position before she heard the footsteps again. They were closer. Running. She let the tire fall and whirled, trying to see what it was. There was nothing. Only the rain and the sound of running footsteps and the howling. Fear gripped her. She struggled to breathe. Her hands trembled like leaves in a stiff breeze.  
The steps were louder. It must have been right in front of her, less than a foot away. And it was. A scream burst from her lungs and she looked down at her thigh, which now supported four deep, long scratches, the same pattern as the one on her tire.  
Hellhound.  
She kicked out as the blood gushed from her leg and mixed with the water beneath her. The hellhound was elusive. It avoided her attacks, and when she thought it was finally gone, it bit into her shoulder and threw her across the car park. She rolled to a stop on her stomach.  
The hellhound ran over to her and placed its heavy paws on her, forcing her breath out. It started dragging its heavy claws down her back. She couldn't breathe. In the absence of air, her lungs began to fill up with something else. Blood. Blood was everywhere. She couldn't see. All she could feel was the white hot pain in her body and the burning desire to breathe.  
But that all started to fade. The pain was reduced to nothing. A part of her refused to let the thing she said on this Earth a scream. Vanity in a hopeless situation. Instead, she tried to call out to the one who made her heart pound every time she saw him. He could help her. He could save her.  
"C… C…. C…."


	12. Chapter 12

Crowley sat in the dark for an entire day before they came to see him. He didn't feel like speaking, but he antagonised the brothers nevertheless. "So, finally get your hands on a whip, Squirrel? You know, I can give you the name of a very-"  
"Shut up." Squirrel said, glaring at the demon. "Stop the deal."  
"No can do, not in these chains." He held up his shackled wrists, smiling hopefully. Truth be told, he couldn't get stop the deal. He had tried, he had gone through every source and lead and favour he had, but he couldn't manage it. He could only hope that he was there to call off the hellhound when it caught up to Rosaline. He knew the day was coming soon, which was why he was never too far away and had sprang to her at the first moments of fear. This trap had thrown a spanner into the works of his plan, and he could only hope that he escaped before it was too late. "Well, technically I can't at all, but getting out of these chains would be nice."  
"You're the King of Hell," Moose said slowly, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You are the King of Hell," he repeated slowly. "That means that you can do whatever you want."  
Crowley pulled his lips to the side and raised his eyebrows. "Well. Being the King has its perks, but there are just some things that I simply can't do. For example, I can't break a deal when it's in its final moments."  
"Then find a loophole or something!"  
The demon shrugged. "This deal was back when I was specific about everything. I didn't have loopholes back then, boys."  
Squirrel picked up the demon blade and slowly inspected it as he spoke. "Well, you're going to make one, then." He thrust the blade down through Crowley's hand, which was laying palm down on the table. "Or I'll be making holes in you."  
"At least buy me dinner first." He muttered, wincing at the wound. Then he stopped, frowned, and his face drained of colour.  
"What, are you not as strong as you thought you were? It's just a little cut, Crowley." Squirrel said, smirk pulling at the corners of his lips.  
The cut didn't bother him, or the knife, or the Winchesters in front of him for that matter. It was his pendant. And it was reacting to Rosaline's fear. "Rosaline's in trouble," he said, his eyes wide and staring at the brothers. "Find her."  
"And why should we trust you?" Squirrel asked, sitting on the edge of the table. "You've told us not to trust you before, so why should we start?"  
"Because she's in danger, you morons!" He started to thrash against his chains. He probably looked like a child throwing a tantrum to the boys, but he didn't care. She was going to die without him.  
Moose frowned, as if he was actually considering letting him out, but a stern look from Squirrel stopped whatever he was about to do.  
"Go get Bird to check on her at least!"  
"He's on a case."  
"And you think that him coming back to find out Rosaline is dead, and me telling him that I warned you, will make you two his favourite pets?" Crowley demanded, staring incredulously up at the men.  
Moose looked at the chained demon and shrugged. "You could be lying."  
"I'm. Not. Lying!" Crowley yelled through his teeth. The pendant was starting got become cool against his chest. Her life force was fading. She was dying. "Get her now! She's not going to last much longer!"  
Squirrel's shoulders bopped up and down in a quick shrug, and he glanced quickly at his brother. "Does he sound like he's lying to you?"  
"He does."  
"Then it's agreed. You're talking shit to get us to leave, and then you'll escape. We know how it works, Crowley, because we're the ones who work it."  
The pendant was icy against his skin by this point. He stared at the corner of the room with a blank expression and his mouth slightly open, lost in his thoughts. She's dead. I couldn't save her. She should still be alive. I tried to warn them. She's dead. The thoughts spun through his head like a broken record. She would be in Hell by now… Hell is no place for a girl like her. He winced as he imagined everything they would do to her. He doubted the demons downstairs would know that she meant something special to the King, so wouldn't treat her different to the common rabble that were flung through his doors. No, she would be tortured and spend her afterlife wishing that there was no existence after death, until he arrived back, at least.  
He needed to get out.

Castiel was in Oregon, standing in a motel room, pinning newspaper clippings, pictures, and an assortment of other things up on the inside of the closet like the Winchesters had shown him. He turned and picked up another newspaper from the previous week and rummaged through it, looking for any more demon omens, when his eyes caught something on the second page.  
'Kansas Girl Dies in Gruesome Animal Attack' the headline screamed at him. He sat down on the edge of the bed to read, pursing his lips.  
At 9:45pm, local authorities were called to investigate the sounds of screaming and dog howls at a motel in Davenport, Iowa. The police discovered the shredded remains of who they believe to be twenty-five year old Kansas girl, Rosaline Matthews beside her black Ford Mustang last night. Little evidence was found at the crime scene and authorities are urging anyone with information to come forward.  
Castiel couldn't read anymore. He knew it wasn't an ordinary wolf that had killed her, it wasn't even technically a wolf. "Hellhound…"  
He whirled around the room, smashing the television, the desk, anything that got in his path of fury. The motel was ransacked within seconds as the thoughts flitted through the angel's mind. Rosaline is dead. She's dead. It had been a week and I didn't know. She's dead. She'd dead.  
He couldn't think straight. It was all Crowley's fault. Before he knew it, he was in the dungeon with the King of Hell, taking his anger out on the demon with his fists. It was a while before the Winchesters worked out what was happening and managed to restrain him.  
"Cas!" Dean shouted as he put the angel's arms in a hold behind his back. "What are you doing?!"  
Sam moved between Castiel and Crowley, and physically pushed the former away. "Calm down!"  
"Rosaline's dead!" The angel roared, trying to free his arms. He gave up within seconds and slumped against Dean. He couldn't stand. Sam took the newspaper Castiel had been clutching in his hand, skimmed through it, and sent a horrified look at his brother.  
But none of that mattered to him. Rosaline was gone. He wasn't there to save her. Dean let his arms free and Cas dropped like a stone to the floor and wrapped his arms around his legs. She was dead.


	13. Chapter 13

The walls were made of heavy, damp stone. It wasn't uncommon to hear a scream that would turn into a horrible gasping, then into wet coughs, and then into nothing. It was Hell, afterall. Rosaline was in a cell to herself. In a way, she was lucky. As she had been brutally escorted inside the gates of Hell, she had seen other cells, smaller than hers, and with so many inmates inside that they were pressed tightly against each other with barely any room to breathe. That would have made the torture difficult.  
Her door was opened and she pressed against the damp wall behind her, wishing she could sink through. The man – tall with dark eyes and hair, and with features permanently set in a harsh smile – came through and closed the door behind him with a heavy and resolute thunk. She knew what he was going to say, and how he would say it, then what he would do to her when she didn't give him the right answers. It was the same every day.  
"Rosaline…" His voice was as hard and sharp as his eyes. "Where's the King?"  
She cowered against the bricks as he picked up his weapon of choice… A wicked looking meat cleaver. "I… I don't know… He was in the bunker last time, but they might have moved him since."  
"We've checked the bunker. We have checked every possible safe house they, and their associates have. No, tell me, where is the King?"  
It continued like that until Rosaline was bleeding, in shreds, and her voice hoarse from screaming. Her left arm had been cut off, and all of her fingers and toes. The man was just about to start plucking out her eyes when the doors opened when figure in a dark hood strode in. The man immediately stepped backwards to let the newcomer inspect his work.  
"Very good," The voice acknowledged, nodding. It was a woman's voice, somewhat familiar, but she couldn't quite place it. Maybe if she hadn't been tortured since the moment she had arrived, then maybe she would have been able to pick it. But at the current moment, her mind was affiliated with more pressing matters, such as staying 'alive'. The woman bent down and lifted Rosaline's chin roughly, making the vertebrae in her neck pop, and clucked her tongue in disapproval. She turned and walked delicately to the door. "But I still think I did a better job." She pulled the man closer by his tie and whispered something in his ear. Rosaline strained to hear, but she couldn't make it out. The man nodded, bowed and kept that position until the woman had exited.  
"What did she say…?" Rosaline whispered, her eyes wide and pleading. The tactic that usually worked on most humans didn't even make the demon blink. She slumped against the wall and stared up at him, exhausted and on the verge of tears again. "At least tell me your name…"  
He looked at her with a raised eyebrow for a while before sighing and caving. "Bael."  
"Okay, Bael," Rosaline began stumbling over her words as they flew from her mouth. If he would listen to her, if he did what she told him, then maybe she could get out of the cell and they would be able to find Crowley. Maybe. "So Crowley and I are linked, or were linked when I was alive. There's probably still some kind of connection between us, if you pull on the right strings."  
Bael frowned, his dark eyebrows pulling over his eyes, which flashed pure white. From what Castiel had told her, demons that had full white eyes were the 'generals' of Hell, which made being tortured by one on a regular basis a disturbing honour. "If we were somehow to get your soul on ground level, then he would be able to feel it?"  
Rosaline shrugged. "I honestly don't know a lot about how it works, but it might help you find him."  
"Good." Bael looked like he was about to leave, but he changed his mind at the last step turned around with a macabre ice-cream scoop from one of his pockets and grinned down at her. "We have had a change of ruling in his absence. Our new leader doesn't care for you petty little things."  
Her face drained of all colour and she stared at the demon general. "You're kidding. You have to be kidding!"  
"And to be honest," he said as he leaned closer to her, the eye-scream scoop – as she had dubbed it – was uncomfortably close to her eyes. She pressed harder against the wall to get distance between it and her one of her most coveted senses, but it was pointless. Whatever was coming, she couldn't stop it. "She's better than Crowley. He had weaknesses… Like you." He brought the scoop to a rest just below her right eye. "If what you're saying is true, then you should know that they say the eyes are the window to the soul."  
Rosaline's scream tore through the cell as the scoop slid under her eye, around the back, severed the optic nerve, and out with a stomach-wrenching pop. Being unable to see when her eyelid was up was terrifying, as was the blood that had begun to pool in her socket. Bael pushed her head down so it could pour onto the already blood-stained cobbles beneath her.  
The moment she had got a handle on her breathing was when he removed the other eye. Pain gripped her. It burned through her blood stream like acid, clawed through every vesicle, contracted every muscle, and still it wasn't enough. It demanded to be heard in the ear-splitting scream that echoed throughout the cell. But still, it wasn't enough. She couldn't faint, she couldn't slip into unconsciousness and feel nothing as her body was being mutilated. No, death prevented that.  
She had agreed to that ten years ago, but never once did she think Hell would be so… Painful. She had expected bathing in lava pits, mediocre torture, but with breaks in between. Time to allow her soul to heal.  
But Hell wasn't like that. Hell was torture in every form, from seeing loved ones dying again, to having one's eyes removed. No walks on flaming coal beaches for her. Whatever leverage Rosaline had with being associated with the King of Hell had disappeared with him, and whoever was running the show now didn't have the same values.  
She wished for death. More than death. As the sounds of Bael's footsteps retreated and the sound of the heavy door slammed shut, she knew that she would never get the peaceful nothingness that she had hoped for. It seemed impossible to die a final death in Hell. Instead, she was destined to be a living toy for the psychotic to play with for the rest of eternity.

…

"Where is she?!" Another fist connected with Crowley's jaw. At this rate, he could take whatever amateur beating the brothers were dishing out for him until the end of time itself. Bird was the one to watch out for. When Dumb and Dumber had decided to lay their heads down for a few hours rest, the angel would come in and ask questions by an assortment of methods that only the God Squad had been shown. A few methods that he would have to take downstairs.  
Crowley rolled his eyes and exasperatedly slammed his hands on the table again. "I've told you already! She's in Hell!"  
Squirrel was pacing, rubbing his raw knuckles with his other hand. He had continued his method of punching the demon in the jaw whenever something he didn't like was said, and now he decided to spice it up with a new question. "How do we get her out?"  
"Finally, an actual question!" Crowley muttered with a roll of his eyes. "Only I can get her out, you morons!"  
It was Moose's turn to punch this time, a flawless right hook under the jaw that made the demon's head spin and pop. If he were human, he didn't have a single doubt that his skull would have detached from his spine. He had an impressive punch, Crowley had to admit. "How do we get in there, without you?"  
"Bird can always fly in." He suggested, shrugging. "And back to Squirrel with the punch to the jaw," The demon narrated, his eyes narrowed. "But no, Bird can't go in for the search and rescue, because I revamped the place. After Lucifer went for a sentence in celestial being prison, I changed it up. I made sure that no more angels could get in. And we all know that Castiel can't get in, because the demons would – what's that word that those God lovers always use? – smite him before he grew a pair to knock." He stared hard at the brothers, challenging them to speak against him. When neither of them did, he raised his wrists and jingled the chains with raised eyebrows.  
Samantha looked at his brother for a moment, waiting for his approval. After a while, the older Winchester nodded and reluctantly set to unshackling the demon. "Now, it wasn't really that hard, was it?" The King of Hell asked when he was free. He didn't wait for a response before he teleported to Hell.  
Faces turned in surprise when they saw him striding through the corridors, and loyal Guthrie turned tail and headed the other way, towards the royal chambers. Crowley narrowed his eyes after him and continued walking, straight into the throne room where a red-headed bitch sat, both legs draped over an arm of his throne.  
"Crowley," the honey-sweet voice said, smiling widely with pink-stained lips. "I thought you were dead."


	14. Chapter 14

"Well, I could have said the same thing about you, Abaddon." The King said, raising an eyebrow at the red-headed, supposedly dead, bitch. "Didn't enjoy your time in the footlocker?"  
"Oh, God no." She said and swung her appendages into a more noble position. "You really gotta clean that out sometime. How many bodies have been in there, anyway?"  
"Too many to count." He said and shrugged. "Now, thank you for warming my seat, but I think what you're doing right there counts as treason."  
Abaddon grinned and motioned to a nearby demon, who quickly approached with a silver goblet of red wine – probably from Crowley's private collection. He passed it to her, and she grinned at the King over its rim. "Well, as you can see here, I'm the new boss."  
Crowley was, to say the least, unimpressed. Crappy torture, and the decapitated woman who had been sitting in a locked box in his room, now had her head stitched back on and had enough balls to sit in his throne? Not a good day. "Abaddon, I don't want to have to kill you again – you were a good soldier-"  
"And you were a shitty King of the Crossroads. Who died and made you King of Hell, anyway? Lucifer's still alive? Why haven't you tried to open up his cage?"  
"Because releasing him would release the Archangel Michael." He muttered with a roll of his eyes It was like talking to a child. An annoying, bratty child who had didn't pass up an opportunity to jump in another's grave the when the moment arrived. "And that is a bad thing. None of us could stand Lucifer in close quarters for more than a day, and Michael has spent how long with him?" Crowley walked up to Abaddon, whatever traces of humour drained from his face. He didn't want to put up with the Knight of Hell anymore, and simply dismissing her would not be enough to stop that kind of revolution from sparking again, so he decided to make an example of her.  
Crowley used his power to knock a piece of iron under the chair, and grinned at the now trapped Knight. "I knew something like this would happen again," he explained as he circled the throne. "So I prepared. I knew that someone would rise up against me, and I'm almost glad that someone was you." Abaddon started to struggle, but it was pointless. "I had an almost complete devil trap set up under the chair that only I knew about. Well, the demon who put it there knew about it, but he's dead – and that's another story. It was just in case a situation like this arose, I could give it a little tap and you'd be stuck." He took a step back and smiled at Abaddon's red face. The devil's trap was a new and improved version, one dug up after months of searching. It was a simple design, the which required minimal effort to flick a piece of iron into place, so it fell into a groove beneath the throne. "Before I kill you for good, tell me, where is Rosaline?"  
"Dead."  
He looked at her, somehow even more unimpressed than he was minutes earlier. "King of Hell, darling," Crowley reminded her with an exasperated smile. "Don't lie to me."  
"Well, she will be soon. Oh, you should see what we've done to her. It's some skilful work, all things considered. And her screams…" She closed her eyes and shivered, as if reliving the young girl's cries gave her physical pleasure. "Intoxicating…"  
"Humour me," The King said suddenly, a new question running into his mind. "Where did the King's Men find the rest of you, Humpty?"  
"She told us where you were, and all the other possible locations as we slowly cut her open and mutilated her." Abaddon said calmly. "One of my men found my head in the denim-clad duo's bunker, and Guthrie knew where my body was, so they put two and two together and made me." She bowed mockingly, jutting her neck out. "My King…"  
He pulled a blade from the wall, and without a second thought, sliced the bitch's neck clean through, smiling as it rolled to a stop near his feet. He had to deal with Abaddon's remains before he went searching for Rosaline, as much as he hated it. He couldn't let her try and take his throne again. This time he would fully destroy whatever was left. Crowley eyed the demons in the room slowly before he spoke. "If this ever happens again, I will personally kill you all. I am your King!"  
With that, he disappeared with the corpse, found a nice, remote volcano, and tossed her in. It would take a while for Abaddon to come back and annoy him again, but he could deal with that later. Rosaline was his priority.  
He returned to Hell, and after a few shouts, a couple of knives in abdomens, her location was given up. Walking through the halls was painstakingly slow. He knew he couldn't run as it wasn't a royal thing to do, so he had to endure the ten minute walk to the furthest and deepest dank cell he had, all the while listening to filthy demons tell him how good it was that the King was back. Crowley was sure those maggots would have been fawning over Abaddon when she took over. Pathetic really.  
Crowley had just started to descend the stone flags when an ear-splitting shriek filled the corridor. Whatever kingly grace he had at that moment left, and after almost throwing himself down the stairs, he raced to Rosaline's cell.  
Crowley could see a man inside through the barred window of the door as his hands fumbled over the lock. He couldn't see the man's face, but he knew he was one of his. The man bent down over Rosaline's small form and traced patterns into her remaining arm with an old, rusty blade. The scream that pierced the room would have stopped the King's heart in its tracks, were it still beating. He didn't have time for locks anymore. No.  
The door flew off its hinges and cracked into the wall near Rosaline. She kept her eyes closed as he entered, but he couldn't spare much attention. The man looked up, and Crowley's eyes narrowed. "You, of all people, knew that she was off-limits, Bael." The King said with controlled anger. He took stock of the torture devices that sat on a trolley in the corner, and smiled. He had a plan in mind for him.  
Crowley took hold of the blood-encrusted demon blade that was on the cart, walked over the Bael. He was mumbling excuses, but Crowley had no sympathy for him. With two quick slashes, the general demon's hands were removed, and a kick sent him hurtling into the wall with a yelp. "You knew better. And you know what? I loathe people who play the fool…"  
He picked Bael up by the back of his coat and two bloodied stumps flailed against the King's forearm. He carried the general out and into another dungeon. When he was chaining up the bastard, Crowley decided that cutting off the man's hands was not a great idea, so he improvised and shackled his feet instead. He'd come back to him later. But first things first.  
"Rosaline?" He called gently as he walked back into her cell. He unbound the heavy chains around her wrist quickly, and knelt down beside her.  
At the sound of her name, she tensed and pressed harder against the wall. "Go away… Please… I've told you everything…" She pleaded, turning her face away from him, and squeezed her eyelids tighter together.  
"Rosaline, it's Crowley. I'm not going to let anything hurt you again, I promise." He tilted his head at her, worry carved into his face. What had they done to her…? What had they done to make her fear his voice? He knew all their methods, he was the who had taught them, but to have them used on Rosaline, a sweet, innocent girl who had sold her soul for what was apparently deemed as a worthy cause. Even a demon had to admire that. "Open your eyes…"  
"I can't…" She whispered, shaking her head. "I can't…"  
"Yes you can, love. Open them. You're safe. It's only you and me."  
She shook her head. "You don't understand… I can't."  
He gently took her chin in his hand, and tilted her head back. "I know you can. Please…?"  
She took a deep breath and slowly opened her eyes. He hadn't prepared for what stared back up at him. It wasn't her lovely blue eyes of the ocean that stared up at him. It was a bloody mess, with shredded muscles that bleed into her sockets, and nerves that must, no doubt, be causing her intense pain beyond what she could have ever imagined. Blood began to trickle from her lower lids and down her cheeks like tears. Crowley's worry turned to horror, then to murderous rage. What he wouldn't do to that… that thing when Rosaline was healed. He took a deep breath and cupped Rosaline's face in his palm. His thumb stroked the blood away from her cheek. "This may… Feel a little uncomfortable." He warned softly and snapped his fingers.  
Rosaline yelped, closed her eyes, and pulled away from Crowley. He sat there, his eyes tormented, as he watched her hand fly up to her eyes and scream.

…

The pain in Rosaline's head was unbearable, the pain in her shoulder coming a close second. Nerves were reconnecting, muscles that were torn repaired, ligaments reattached. It took her a moment to breathe when the pain started to ease, and she turned to blink up at Crowley, whose hazel eyes were wide as he stared down at her, the muscles around them tight, and his neck strained. Then she frowned, blinked again, and slowly raised her hands.  
My hands…?  
She could see. Her hand arm was back. Her fingers that had been cut off were now reattached, the skin a soft, healthy pink. Rosaline slowly turned to look up at the King of Hell, tears of gratitude swelling in her eyes.  
Before she could speak a word of a thank you, he deftly swung her up into his arms and against his warm chest. He shushed her as he carried her out. "Screw what they think," she heard him mutter as she started up the stairs.  
Her eyes roamed over his face, and as if feeling her gaze, he glanced down at her. "Thank you…" She whispered, her eyes wide and earnest. "Thank you for saving me…"  
Crowley smiled lopsidedly as he walked, holding his chin high as they passed confused looking demons in the hallways. The smile was odd for the King of Hell, any smile when he was not inflicting pain or torment on another was a strange look on his handsome face. But there was something about it that made Rosaline's heart clench and breath when he glanced down at her.  
He didn't respond until they were out of sight, and in the King's Quarters. He sat her down gently on his satin bed, slipped off his jacket, and wrapped it around her shoulders. "You don't have to worry, Rosaline," he said finally as he sat down beside her. She took his arm and wrapped it around her waist so she could curl into his side. He gave her waist a small squeeze as he spoke. "It's all going to be okay. If you wish, I can take you back to Castiel."  
She didn't say anything for a while. Instead, she thought over his proposal. She could return to Castiel, back to her solid life, helping research hunting for the Winchesters, to living easy and without fear that she would be tortured if left alone. And back to the weeks of disappearances, of worrying if her angel was alive or dead, and the hours upon hours of solitude that companionship brought. He was beautiful, and the angel did love her, but over the past few weeks, Rosaline had started to feel that love slip from her end.  
But then again, could she leave him…  
For Crowley…?  
She had already been tortured twice in order to get to him, but there was an assurance that she could see now in his eyes, a promise that he would never let her go, and never let her be harmed again. The demon was different, he was a more solid, reliable force in her life that she didn't know existed. He genuinely cared for her, and that was all she really needed.  
"I've made my decision." She said after a time, and pressed her lips against the King of Hell's, content to hold out her end of the bargain by his side until the end of time.


End file.
